MK Dons midfielder Jonny Williams says side has to bounce back from Brighton loss quickly

MK Dons midfielder Jonny Williams has described the team’s upcoming matches against Fulham and Rotherham as massive.

Williams was speaking after the Dons’ 2-1 defeat by Brighton at stadium:mk. The match was won by two Tomer Hemed goals, with Antony Kay grabbing a goal back before Kyle McFadzean was sent off and Carl Baker missed an injury time penalty.

With big games against the two teams immediately above the Dons coming straight after the international break, Williams said the team has to hit the ground running after a somewhat unwanted pause.

He said, “We showed today how we fought for each other and had the passion to try and get the result even with 10 men. Its a shame the international break comes at this time as we’ve had some good performances recently, and we’re going to have to be on it when it comes back around in two weeks.

“Its massive. We have to get points – there’s no two ways about it. The two games against Fulham and Rotherham are massive.”

Speaking of the game, Crystal Palace loanee Williams said he felt his team were better against the rivals of his parent club, but that they had the last laugh.

“It was a tough one to take, especially after having a penalty so late on and playing well for the majority of the game. We’ve played better against other teams, but we had a job today and for the most part we had Brighton where we wanted them. Its a shame we’ve conceded two avoidable goals.

“Its always exciting against Brighton – every game against them has been. I’ve given them a bit but they’ve had the last laugh by getting into the top two today.”

Williams had been substituted by the time of Baker’s late penalty, which was preceded by timewasting by Brighton players that saw two different players booked for kicking the ball away and raucous protests. The Dons player said it wasn’t nice to see, but admitted they would probably think it worked.

He said, “There’s only so much a ref can do and he can’t physically stop them taking the ball away. Its a shame they’ve chosen to do that, but in their mind, its worked. We could all say its down to that, but I can’t predict if he would or wouldn’t – its just not nice to see.”